As a result of Tesla’s poor media coverage, Elon Musk took to Twitter this week to rant about the legitimacy of journalists and news organizations. Despite what appear to be genuine problems with Model 3 manufacturing and Autopilot technology, Musk claims that reporters have no credibility and are just trying to get clicks.

It wasn't immediately clear whether any specific news report triggered the rant, which totaled at least 19 tweets. "Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication," Musk said on Twitter. "Thinking of calling it Pravda …"

Well the US' mainstream news media has tried it, and many fanatical partisans have tried it with various newssite-ranking sites... let's see what Musk's own take on media evaluation will be. If he's doing this with awareness of the already-existing sites that rank news media for accurateness (and I hope that he is), then he must have some more-advanced concept that he thinks will be better.

A site for tracking journalist accountability.... named after a soviet newspaper?!

I'm a big fan of what Musk has done with SpaceX and Tesla, but this is confusing. Maybe I'm wrong, but most news consumers naturally seek out perspectives that align with their existing bias - irrespective of accountability. Alex Jones still has a following after all.

If you want to improve journalism, I think it starts with a more demanding reader base.

A site for tracking journalist accountability.... named after a soviet newspaper?!

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I think his intention is to mock the mainstream news media by equating their reporting to that of Soviet-era Pravda. And he is also deriding the concept of a Ministry of Truth, which mainstream news media tries to present itself as.

If you want to improve journalism, I think it starts with a more demanding reader base.

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Maybe before readers can demand better they have to become aware of what the current state of things is. Increasing awareness, while not the resolution, is still a part of the process, enabling people to think about what they want and what should now happen.

Maybe before readers can demand better they have to become aware of what the current state of things is. Increasing awareness, while not the resolution, is still a part of the process, enabling people to think about what they want and what should now happen.

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Exactly! Upton Sinclair said it best, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" If the miners in West Virginia had been properly informed by the news media, without all the manipulation and lies involved, they wouldn't have voted for Trump. The media doesn't care about true journalism because presenting facts and being objective is boring and doesn't generate clicks; by its very nature the mainstream news would rather focus on a Trump tweet than focus on the water crisis of Flint Michigan, or the justification of private prisons. Creating awareness and informing citizens of a country requires beat reporters spending weeks if not months gathering evidence and interviews which costs time and money. Neither of which any of the big newspapers do anymore. Instead everything is replaced with gotcha titles, biased opinions, anything that gets a user to click on their site because clicks = ratings = revenue = stock price goes up = investors. Honest journalism with integrity not only doesn't make money, but in fact it actually gets your ass locked up in jail nowadays, thanks to an archaic and old law (Espionage Act) which not only punishes whistle-blowers but puts journalists in jail as well. So as a journalist how much are your core values worth when you not only have a possibility of being fired, but getting your ass locked up in the process.

However, the blame goes both ways...

Which is why you gentlemen as a reciprocate of information through news need to have the basic concept of objectivity in knowing how to distinguish between facts and distortion. You must approach it critically and without bias and draw your own conclusions based in logic, evidence, and with the addition of other sources with different perspectives and biases. So for example, if you're reading an article on the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the journalist takes a biased approach on the issue, you must consider other sources to corroborate the journalists analysis of the situation. If that other source doesn't gel with the original article, then you as a reader have to dig deeper to figure out what the facts are from the bullshit. And that isn't easy because it requires time and critical thinking.

And ain't nobody got time for either anymore. Not as long as you're distracted with Nvidia and AMD gossip.

Critical thinking and bias are important subjects that are too often overlooked in the education system. It would serve the future well to teach our children to think for themselves instead of pushing them to believe what we tell them. Additionally, it is far too common for Americans nowadays too attack the source but not address anything substantive about the content; which is not only a logical fallacy in itself but it reinforces the fact that Americans attention spans have been largely dumbed down thanks to 24/7 social media, pre-processed fast food, and unlimited entertainment. Too often on now on forum threads (excluding you mutha fuckas of course) all I'm seeing now are 144 character rants that offers no substance whatsoever, other than to incite anger and vitriol, or simple trolling because they think they're smart and witty, when clearly this isn't the case. Not to mention there is such a socio-economic divide that anytime there's a controversial topic, it immediately turns into flame wars and ad-hominem attacks. Meanwhile, nobody wants to talk about the issues in question.

And that is precisely what Chomsky has talked about for 50 years: FEAR. That fear has now manifested itself into violence, polarization, tribalism, and propaganda, all brought to you by a corporate media that cares nothing more than clicks and profit. When you have the CEO bluntly say, *"It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS," it should hammer home what all the networks are doing. Which is why I have no choice but to look for news outside the mainstream. But while there are some great non-mainstream news outlets that provide a outside perspective on the system that we all live under, there are a litany of terrible and dangerous sites like Infowars that manipulate young and impressionable youth who are full of angst and disillusionment with the system. What they don't realize is that they're being exploited with with lies and propaganda, which is molding them into dangerous citizens down the road. And it will continue to get worse.

Which goes back to my final point: nobody likes to take the time to analyze every piece of evidence with a critical thinking mind. And while it is funny Al-Jazeera is now considered the news source of objective reporting, it should also trouble you how bad things have become when it takes outside news sources to bring facts to the table. However bad their Arabic news stations are, the English ones actually provide an invaluable resource in comparison to their American counterparts. The difference is, everyone should be able to distinguish bias from fact and have to objectively look at it with an open mind.

I think this site can be a good thing if they can figure out how to prevent bots. Because news organizations and journalists alike would have a financial interest in manipulating the data or they could collectively black out the site and never one mention the data within.

Man, I respect Elon Musk for what he's doing in SpaceX. But blaming journalists, calling it "clickbait", making public statements to bash every form of critic and calling it oil company's propaganda or some kind of conspiracy is childish if not fascist.

Man, I respect Elon Musk for what he's doing in SpaceX. But blaming journalists, calling it "clickbait", making public statements to bash every form of critic and calling it oil company's propaganda or some kind of conspiracy is childish if not fascist.

I find it interesting that a select number of individuals here like him so much. You hit the nail on the head, you can't be "fan" of Tesla and not be aware of the big problems at Tesla and not question Elon Musk. The internet in general likes to report on "cool" things he does like sending a Roadster to Mars. Again, if you're a fan of Tesla or follow Tesla for any other reason, you will notice the pattern; each problem that leaks out at Tesla means another "Roadster to Mars" kind of story. Another poster here called it like it is.

I think his intention is to mock the mainstream news media by equating their reporting to that of Soviet-era Pravda. And he is also deriding the concept of a Ministry of Truth, which mainstream news media tries to present itself as.

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Yea they have tried to push these "fact checking" sites, sadly if you look at them from objective view you can see they tend to be weighted 1 direction to give 1 side more benefit while being more likely to call other side as being untruthful.

He's mostly right. The mainstream news media are trying to get clicks and to further their political, ideological, or corporate agendas with propaganda and disinformation.

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Have you ever seen Tesla’s balance sheet? How about the huge flight of executives from the company? Maybe the repeated missed production targets, build quality, and safety issues with their product despite Musk’s tireless promotion?

You know, it is entirely possible that things at Tesla actually are genuinely not going well.

All of it is true. The press mentions Tesla for clicks and doesn't give them a fair shake. And the Model 3 production is behind the schedule they thought they could get when they announced the Model 3. However Musk is right, the media overstates things as facts on a regular basis to try to create controversy and clicks, or as a campaign to discredit Tesla because they're in the pocket of short sellers of Tesla's stock. Even the [H] uses Tesla for clicks. It has no effect on Tesla, there's a never-ending wait list for the Model 3 that will take years to work through even if production goes as planned from here on out. So Tesla is literally invulnerable to this press. So based on that, Musk should do the same thing that Trump should do: stop using Twitter so much.

He receives his fair share of criticism and skepticism, but some of it is fair enough. Lots of great sounding idea's, but can he meet them and how fast and/or cost effectively? What is the quality value of the idea he's pushing versus what he actually delivers or meets?

Guy has a company that burns investor money and doesn't appear will be profitable for many more years. And he can't take a little criticism..........

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I'm not aware of him having a problem with articles about their financials because that's all factual information that cannot be argued with. I think what his problem is all of the "Tesla Model whatever involved in accident" making national news. How many thousands of cars are in accident every day in the US, and only Tesla's are making national news over it. It's a true "click bait" mentality with these companies. I can see how that would piss him off.

I'm not aware of him having a problem with articles about their financials because that's all factual information that cannot be argued with. I think what his problem is all of the "Tesla Model whatever involved in accident" making national news. How many thousands of cars are in accident every day in the US, and only Tesla's are making national news over it. It's a true "click bait" mentality with these companies. I can see how that would piss him off.

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More specifically it's the constant, daily, rhetorical headlines with a question mark that are a wave of clickbait shit hitting him daily

The most advertising dollars in the world are spent on automobiles. So he's got both the comventional auto industry, and oil/fossil industries gunning for him - collective trillion dollar industries, since he's seen as the momentum leader for electrics, and slowing him down or sabotaging the company with FUD and disinformation is in their financial interest. And then you've also got cowards with financial interests or employed by these industries adding to the FUD with their online postings masquerading as an everyman.

The only parties that need to worry about production delays are shareholders and customers with preorders. Everyone else feigning outrage is a phony.

I'm not aware of him having a problem with articles about their financials because that's all factual information that cannot be argued with. I think what his problem is all of the "Tesla Model whatever involved in accident" making national news. How many thousands of cars are in accident every day in the US, and only Tesla's are making national news over it. It's a true "click bait" mentality with these companies. I can see how that would piss him off.

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cause Tesla has been going around the country before the crash telling everyone how safe their cars are compared to ordinary non-autopilot cars

we all love to glee at Tesla 's now busted p.r marketing bullshit.

i think some journalists whom was forced to write happy stories about Tesla before , are now rejoicing at this opportunity too.

Man, I respect Elon Musk for what he's doing in SpaceX. But blaming journalists, calling it "clickbait", making public statements to bash every form of critic and calling it oil company's propaganda or some kind of conspiracy is childish if not fascist.

Sounds like he's upset that a company, who has tested automobiles longer than Tesla has been making cars, poo-pooed the Model 3's brakes.

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Ah yes, the company that has shown to know jack shit about the things that really matter with cars, and for decades if it wasn't the Toyota Camry it was crap; yeah, anyone who relies on Consumer Reports for anything on cars deserves what they get. Appliances? Maybe. Cars? Don't make me laugh even harder.

Not that I don't think Tesla doesn't have issues. I don't want want yet - it's way to early to tell if they are going to be a good deal long term. I have zero interest in owning a car less than five years - my current cars are a 1997 and a 2002. And they still look and operate like when they were new because I take care of them, store them in a garage instead of storing a bunch of useless crap in the garage like most of my neighbors, etc. I have a few friends and neighbors who love to bloviate about people who change phones every year or two years but then they have no problem getting completely new cars every 2 to 3 years. I actually have a few who honestly think leases are a good deal.

The whole battery pack being a consumable item and also more than 50% the cost of the car are a huge red flag for me. Might be the only time I consider a lease - and anyone who has priced the lease of a Tesla will understand my concerns aren't unwarranted since apparently the leasing companies, which are not charities, have priced the leases accordingly too.

I think electric is the future; battery tech is just not there yet. If anyone else wants to buy a Tesla and push the R&D along more quickly I thank you

As a result of Tesla’s poor media coverage, Elon Musk took to Twitter this week to rant about the legitimacy of journalists and news organizations. Despite what appear to be genuine problems with Model 3 manufacturing and Autopilot technology, Musk claims that reporters have no credibility and are just trying to get clicks.

It wasn't immediately clear whether any specific news report triggered the rant, which totaled at least 19 tweets. "Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication," Musk said on Twitter. "Thinking of calling it Pravda …"

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Much of your fate is centered around whether certain media outlets like you. It's as simple as that. They are vindictive and nasty and if you get on their wrong side you start seeings things like "The serial killer, an avid Follower of Elon Musk" or "Elon Musk, an individual his rarely correct says..." Note the people they like never get that treatment. You can check out CNN on the left or Fox on the right, this is what they do. We need to call this out.

Look at the overwhelming color added to Trump stories you will see this in spades.

The media is very quick to come out and say they are persecuted and how dare we criticize the press like Stalin would. They actually use this same tactic every time they are accused or caught lying. It's blatant. They need to be held under an insane microscope.